Westboro Baptist Church pays no taxes

Recently we’ve heard in the news of the radical church group from Kansas, that has been in the news, and on tv, with their provocative protests at funerals of U.S. soldiers and their in-your-face rhetoric aimed at gays and Jews. Many have accused this church group of being a hate group. Ah but there’s one big difference – this group unlike most hate groups don’t pay taxes because of its status as a religious constitution.

The group’s actions according to many have crossed the line. They do know the law, so they know just how far they can go without overstepping the bounds. The group was founded by former civil rights attorney Fred Phelps. There are 80 members in the group, most are family members and lawyers themselves.

What makes this group so unique and a PITA, is the fact that they always target grieving families , and their message is that military deaths are the work of a wrathful God who is punishing the United States for tolerating homosexuality. They have also been known to protest nonmilitary events, such as Jerry Falwell’s funeral and the recent deaths of the 29 minors in West Virginia. They first got attention back in 1998, when members appeared outside the funeral of Matthew Shepard, the gay University of Wyoming student whose murder drew national attention.

But lately their targets have been Jews whom they accuse of killing Jesus. According to Phelps, the goal of the church is for the nation to hear the rod and he who has appointed it….many can’t understand how these radicals could form a church. The Mayor of Topeka, Bill Bunten says the city has challenged the church’s tax exempt status. Meanwhile, Westboro is not affiliated with any Baptist associations.

The fundamentalist church that picketed the funeral of a Marine killed in Iraq with anti-gay signs argued Wednesday that its actions were protected by the First Amendment.

An attorney for the Westboro Baptist Church submitted a 75-page brief to the U.S. Supreme Court, which will hear arguments in a lawsuit against the church this fall. Albert Snyder of York, Pa., claims that the church’s free-speech rights did not trump his right to peacefully assemble for his son’s funeral.

The Topeka, Kan.-based church believes that U.S. military deaths are God’s punishment for tolerance of homosexuality. Founder Fred Phelps and six of his relatives picketed the 2006 funeral of Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder in Westminster, Md., carrying signs that read “Thank God for Dead Soldiers” and “You’re Going to Hell,” among other statements.

Attorney Margie Jean Phelps, the church founder’s daughter, will argue the case before the Supreme Court. She argued in her brief that Westboro did not disrupt the funeral in part because its protest was 1,000 feet away from the church, on a public street. Snyder did not see the protesters and could not read their signs during the funeral, but was aware of their presence.

“He was able to go to and leave the funeral without any slightest disruption or interference,” Phelps wrote. “WBC was out of sight and sound; maintained a very reasonable distance; acted peacefully and engaged in no disruption or intrusion. … This is the wrong case to decide whether there is a privacy interest in a funeral.”

Phelps also argued that the church was engaging in public speech on a matter of public concern; that the funeral was a public event; and that the church did not assert provable facts but instead expressed “hyperbolic, figurative, loose, hysterical opinion.”

In 2007, a jury found against Westboro and awarded Snyder nearly $11 million as compensation for emotional distress and invasion of privacy. That award was later reduced and then overturned by a court of appeals.

The Supreme Court agreed in March to take the case, and the justices will hear arguments during the court’s next term, which begins in October. Forty-eight states and the District of Columbia submitted a brief in support of Snyder. The states argued they have a compelling interest in protecting the sanctity of funerals.

Residents of Missouri Town Block Protesters From Picketing Soldier’s Funeral

Members of a small Missouri town banded together Saturday to block a controversial pastor and members of his Westboro Baptist Church from protesting the funeral of a fallen U.S. soldier, Fox4kc.com reports.

The Westboro Baptist Church, notorious for picketing military funerals, will picket outside of East Lansing High School on Thursday.

The church selected the school as a picket location because of e-mails the church received from the students regarding its picketing of soldier’s funerals, said Shirley Phelps-Roper, a member of and attorney for the Westboro Baptist Church.

Disgusted Arizona residents are locking arms to stop the Westboro Baptist Church from disrupting the funerals for victims of Saturday’s shooting in Tucson, with bikers and others organizing a massive counter-protest and state lawmakers fast-tracking a bill to hamstring the so-called church.